In with the new….
Several posts ago, I spent some time talking about “Out with the old” and referred to the fact that many of the birds we had grown accustomed to seeing over the winter (Coots, Blue-winged teal, Yellow-rumped warblers, Palm warblers, White pelicans, etc) had been all but absent in the immediate past week or so. As spring has arrived, many of our “snow birds”, both human and avian, have made their departure and are headed for points north. Filling the vacancy, however, are a number of species we have not seen in any numbers to speak of during the winter season. The shot above depicts two of the true harbingers of spring here in Central Florida. The Swallow-tailed kites have recently been making their presence known, and this past Tuesday we had a group of three fly over us at Sugar Mill Gardens in Port Orange. We actually had 5 sightings, but we can only surmise that the first two may well have been members of the trio we saw at the end of our trip. These birds are truly spectacular in their black and white plumage and graceful flight. What a treat and what a sign of things to come.
While it is true that we see Painted buntings here on the Central east coast of Florida through much of the winter, they are in fact Short- to Medium-distance migrants. These beautiful birds will be seen less and less commonly during the summer as they head up to their usual breeding grounds in northern Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas. By mid-October, they will be returning our region in mid and southern Florida for the winter. We were fortunate to see this individual still here as they will be more and more uncommon during the upcoming months until they return once again in the fall.
Being spring, many birds like this Tufted titmouse are beginning to form “bonded pairs” as their nesting season formally begins. Late March through mid-June, these small omnivores begin to set up shop, using whatever cavity they may find at their disposal and lining these with hair, fur, or wool. The bird pictured here was constantly flitting from tree to tree seemingly in tandem with its presumed mate. The two never ventured very far from one another. Titmice are monogamous and it is of interest that if they have two broods in a season, the youngsters from the first nesting often remain with their parents throughout the year and actually help raise the second brood! So while not migrating into this part of the country as our “in with the new” crowd, they certainly are playing their role by adding to the existing population.
Another local adding to the population numbers in this area is the Cooper’s hawk. These hawks are what are considered “partial migrants”. Northern populations tend to be much more migratory than the southern birds. Last year, at about this same time, we observed a Cooper’s hawk nesting in a tree very close to where we were now located. It is a fact that “Coops” are known to return to the same area to nest year after year. We wondered if this hawk could be the same one we saw on the nest last year, but at first we could not locate any existing nests. Before long, however, this bird let us know that he was indeed planning on raising a family on these grounds as he began to collect some pretty substantial nesting material which he proceeded to carry into a nearby live oak.
We’ll continue to watch for signs of nesting among our avian friends in the forms of gathering nesting material like we see here or carrying food on the wing. Normally, when a bird gathers anything good to eat, he/she disposes of it on the spot. If the bird is carrying it around in flight, more than likely that food is for the mate on the nest or the chicks within. Exciting time of year to be out watching and photographing bird life.
